washingtontimes.com / .washingtontimes-com-opinion

Look beyond the Beltway if you want to see where America's energy future lies.

Rural communities have a historic opportunity to improve health care access, quality of care, and outcomes through the Rural Health Transformation Fund (RHTF).

Arizona's 6th Congressional District is home to a multitude of rural communities, with veterans in every county.

I'm a doctor. I practiced medicine in Wyoming for 24 years. I know what affordable, reliable, quality local care means for our communities. Rural providers are lifelines.

Living in rural America comes with great benefits a simpler way of life in picturesque countrysides where neighbors can be miles away physically but deeply close personally.

America's farmers are staring down a crisis. Farm bankruptcies are rising, commodity prices have plummeted, and profitability per acre is deep in the red, placing unprecedented financial stress on many family farms.

More than 70% of America's land is rural, a vast stretch of forests, plains, farms, small towns, and open country that approximately 50 million people call home.

Rural America represents 20% of our nation's population but covers nearly 97% of our land. These are the communities and people that sustain our farms, our fisheries, and our frontiers.

America's rural communities are the backbone of our nation's economy, embodying the values of hard work and self-reliance that define our country.

More than 60 million Americans live in rural communities like ours; yet accessing high-quality health care remains a persistent challenge.